1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a protective pod that is carried in a folded condition within a pod containment envelope at the rear of a personal flotation device (i.e. lifejacket) so as to be accessible to and worn by a civilian and military airman or a seaman who finds himself in or about to enter a cold water environment while awaiting rescue from an emergency situation. The protective pod creates a sealed chamber within which a small volume of water is trapped and heated by the wearer's body heat to slow a drop in the wearer's body temperature to better enable him to survive his environment.
2. Background Art
As may occur in an emergency situation, a civilian (e.g. a boater, a cruise ship passenger, a pilot, etc.) or a member of the military may find it necessary to abandon his boat or plane. In cases where a boat is at sea or an airplane is above a body of water, the individual may have to enter the water while awaiting rescue. Where the individual must enter a cold water environment wearing nothing more than a conventional lifejacket, his body temperature will quickly drop to a level where survival becomes impossible if his rescue is delayed for any prolonged period of time.
Waterproof garments are known that offer some protection to a wearer against hypothermia and the effects of low temperature, such as that which would be encountered by civilians or military personnel who face an emergency situation while at sea. However, these garments are typically worn in lieu of a lifejacket or other conventional personal floatation device. Accordingly, the wearer will quickly tire and/or have trouble staying afloat while awaiting his rescue. Moreover, the ability of many garments to insulate the wearer's body against a significant drop in temperature may be negligible. That is, garments such as clothing do not fully surround and protect the wearer's body and/or function as a warming device, such that the wearer may find himself facing hypothermia after a relatively short time in the cold water environment. Consequently, the wearer's chances of survival will be relatively minimal, especially where the water temperature is low and the time to await rescue is more than a few minutes.
Moreover, heavily insulated and independently buoyant garments, known generically as immersion or survival suits, are typically expensive, high-end emergency garments that are used by commercial fishermen and oil rig workers, where the chances of unexpected immersion in a cold water environment are high and the high per person cost of the immersion suit is not deemed cost prohibitive. The immersion or survival suits would not usually be considered appropriate nor cost effective for most private non-commercial, recreational boaters, commercial cruise ship passengers and even highly mobile military personnel where the bulk and weight of hypothermia protective devices would be a serious consideration.
Therefore, what is needed is a reliable protective enclosure that is capable of slowing the effects of hypothermia and thereby prolonging the survivability of a user while fully immersed in a cold water environment, without being so cost prohibitive or so heavy and bulky that it would not be of practical use and commercial value.
Examples of protective garments, and the like, that can be used to increase the wearer's chances of surviving a cold water environment are available by referring to one or more of the following United States patents:
3,744,053 Parker et al July 10, 1973 4,533,333 Andrew et al August 6, 1985 4,533,335 Hoshino August 6, 1985 4,739,522 Lassiter et al April 26, 1988